Small fire broke out at Hyatt Hotel's staff canteen
A small fire broke out in the office located within Hyatt Hotel's staff canteen this afternoon.
SCDF said they received a call at around 2:30 pm and despatched 1 fire engine, 1 support vehicle and 1 ambulance.
But the fire was put out by the hotel's fire fighting team before SCDF arrived.
Some 100 people and guests were evacuated from the scene.
One of whom was Mr Kamal, who had booked two rooms at the Hyatt to house his visiting relatives.
He described what happened.
"When the alarm broke out, we realised that there was a fire and we asked the hotel security but they did not know what was happening. After about 3 minutes, they told us there was a fire in the hotel. They told us they will keep us updated within a few minutes. My family members were up in the room on the 11th floor. We told the security that we wanted them to come down, and they said no, the lifts are all jammed and they have to take the staircase. They told me the lifts would be working after a few minutes, but it took them 30 to 45 minutes to get the lifts working. There was no panic in the hotel. President S R Nathan and his wife were hosting a lunch in the hotel. I spoke with the president's security personnel and I was talking to them. They told me not to worry and everything was under control."
Hyatt's Corporate Communications Manager, Patricia Yong on the hotel's fire evacuation procedures.
"When the fire alarm goes off, if they want to leave the premises, they can leave the premises, it is not a compulsort evacuation. No guests were affected. Every month we have a fire drill, and we practise our fire evacuation drill consistently. So we never take all these things lightly and we are very vigilant."
--938Live